A Tale of Two Kings
by Nerdvi
Summary: The friendship between the two princes is getting stronger by each passing day,but adolescense has other plans for poor little Yugi's heart.What will be of our kings? REWRITTEN PEOPLE!
1. Prologue

Once upon a time, in a far away kingdom, lived a beautiful prince, who had a dream…

This is how a good fairy tale should start, how most of fairy tales start, only to end with a kiss to the rescued princess and a "and they lived happily ever after".

Fortunately for us, this isn't a fairy tale, and it's certainly not about a princess and her prince. This is the story of two kingdoms and their politics, the legend of two families, the ballad of two bonds, a tale of two kings.


	2. How it all begun

**Hi there! Yes, this is "A tale of two kings" rewritten. I'M SORRY I ABANDONED THE STORY. But I was in my final year of school, and i also lost interest for it. Now I think i'm ready to continue it, because i really like the story, and have big plans for it. I also realized that it was poorly written, given that my knowledge of English back then was very limited, and i couldn't put myself to the level i wanted the story (and you, dearest reader) to have. **

**So basically, you guys deserved better and that's why i am rewritting the story xD it will be slow, but steady, i'm going to university this year so i'm going to do my best. I AM ALSO LOOKING FOR A BETA, is someone is interested. **

**ok, enough of my blah blah, on with the story xD**

* * *

It all begun in a sunny summer day:

Little prince Atemu, first and only son of the great king Anknunkanon was visiting the kingdom of Domino accompanying his beloved father, for it was necessary to him to learn every single aspect about how the country was run, even if he was just six years old.

He was bored as he could be when he saw a vision in pink walking –no, _sliding_- through the woods. _"She must be one of the princesses" _Atemu thought, for only those of royal line could posses such beauty, that his impressionable six year old mind was quick to describe: he thought her to be a fairy, an ethereal and fragile creature carved by the heavens and meant to be contemplated by worthy eyes only.

He decided to follow her, and after ten minutes of walking he found himself standing in front of the royal palace door, which the beautiful angel entered, leaving a young boy in her place. He had big innocent, mauve colored eyes, filled with joy and excitement; said eyes looked at him, blinked twice and then the boy tilted his head to the side, not quite understanding why his – apparently- long lost brother was standing in front of his door.

-Hello, my name is Yugi, and I am the king's son. Are you lost? Is there anything I can do? Can I help you? - bombed the boy with a sweet smile, while extending his hand to Atemu.

Atemu looked at the boy, then at the offered hand, then at the boy again, and then he scowled, he was rather shy around new people, and he certainly did not know how to treat this way too friendly stranger.

-I…hum…well…my name is…I am… - He stammered lamely, feeling the blush rush to his cheeks and cursing his lack of talent to talk in front of strangers.

Yugi made it easy for him: he smiled sympathetically and shook his head- Never mind, come in! Let's play a game! You _do _like games right? - Atemu nodded and Yugi's smiled widened as he took the prince's small hand in his and led him to the gardens.

It was the most entertaining afternoon he'd had in his short life. Yugi was agile and imaginative, and with and with a little help of the imagination they managed to travel in one afternoon from the great kingdom of Domino to the farthest place of America. They sailed the Sena and the Amazonas, interacted with Celtic tribes and Australian pygmies; they rode tigers in India, were pirates in Caribbean waters, they did everything without even leaving the garden. Yugi's imagination was incredible, and he had managed to somehow get rid of Atemu's natural shyness, the boy was like a little typhoon, and without noticing, it had blown Atemu's mind, as it would continue to do for years to come.

King Anknunkanon arrived at Domino royal palace at six o' clock, worried sick because his only son had run in pursue of someone in that direction nearly two hours ago, and had not returned since. Aunt Mai opened the palace doors and led the concerned sovereign to the gardens where Atemu and Yugi scampered covered in mud, trying to safe princess Anzu from the red eyed dragon.

Anknunkanon had to literally drag Atemu out of the palace, covered in mud and throwing a monumental tantrum, while Anzu threw him a kiss and Yugi waved goodbye, smiling adorably.

The journey home passed between Anknunkanon and Atemu's screams, the second one did not shut up until his father had promised- on Grandma's cinnamon cookies- that he _would _take him to play with his new friends the next day.

But as always, fate was a capricious little bitch, and The king was called home on urgent business, leaving little Atemu to the care of his relatives, and the boy saw all hopes of getting to play with Yugi today thrown overboard.

But Atemu wouldn't be our little leader if he had just accepted his fate, oh no.

He came to terms with himself, and with complete determination, decided that he was Six years old, he was o longer a child, and if he wanted to see his friend again he'd have to go and find him alone. And no relative, no danger in the world, no cinnamon cookie, not even a new deck would stop him from doing so.

That's how, armed with nothing but his wooden sword and his six- year- old- grown up resoluteness, he left his house with a stoic attitude, facing the dangers of the world, exposing his life and walked the three blocks that separated Domino Royal palace from his own.

He was knocking the door then minutes after, and Mai almost had a heart attack when he saw the young prince standing there, _alone_. He proceeded to tell her his sad story and she resolved to send a message to his house, telling his relatives that he was a guest in the palace and would be staying there till the end of the summer.

Yugi was playing in the tree house when he saw the "shy boy" from yesterday in his garden. He smiled.

-'Temu, you're back! – Exclaimed Yugi while running to his new friend and hugging him tightly- Do you want to play in the tree house? We can play…pirates today!

Atemu smiled back and nodded happily, grabbing Yugi's hand.

-I race you to the tree house!

That day, Atemu met Yugi's friends: Jou, Ryou, Malik and Bakura, and discovered that they got along more than well. Two weeks later, his cousin Seto Kaiba joined them, and found out that it was actually possible to be a nice person around those kids.

The blonde exception would take some time, though.

* * *

Yup, we'll have puppyshipping ;) READ AND REVIEW, AUTHORS LOVE COMMENTS!


	3. Orden into caos

Ever since that day, Yugi and Atemu had been best friends, their relationship grew so deep that it transcended the barriers of physical communication; they were connected by _something, _something mysterious, ancient, and powerful. None of them could understand it back then, but as they grew older, _it_ grew stronger, encouraged by constant visits between the boys, the gang joined them, of course, but no one had that link that made Yami and Yugi two sides of a same coin.

Because when they were ten years old, Yugi started to call Atemu his "Yami" ("_you're like a dark, cranky version of me, Yami".) _and, at the same time, the crimson eyed boy started to call Yugi his "Hikari" (_You wear your heart in your sleeve, you're like a big plushy made by grandma.), _a nickname that later evolved to "Aibou" ("Yugi_, would you be my Aibou?" "Of course Yami! Always _your_ Aibou.")_

But this was not the only bond that was developing:

As Atemu and Anzu grew up, their childhood crush turned into something deeper, more intense, and by the time they were eleven, Atemu was positive that _She_ was the girl he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.

Anzu had been adorable as a girl and now was turning into a gorgeous woman, she was so aware of this and it made her fall head over heels for the attention her beauty provided her with, included Atemu's.

She was in love with the attention Atemu gave her, with the adoration that filled his young eyes every time they looked at her, they glistened like two perfect mirror where she could admire herself…he _had _to be the prince her aunts had told her about, the beautiful prince in shiny armor that would be devoted to her forever.  
-

Years passed, and the royal sons of Domino had already turned fourteen, old enough to finally get some quality education and make the family name proud.

With that in mind, King of Domino decided to send his beloved children to the "Royal Academy for Gifted Heirs", whose stupidly long name only meant that you could afford to pay an obscene amount of money to be there.

The Royal Academy owned two blocks and the buildings were divided by sex, resulting on one campus for males and one for the females, both equally big and equally full of snobs.

Yugi knew, as soon as he set a foot into his classroom, that there was something _off_ with the environment, a certain _atmosphere _that told him he was not to be forgiven, even when he had no idea of what sins where inflicted on him.

He was aware of it by recess:

He was extremely short for his age and inconveniently child looking, with his big mauve eyes and pale skin, enhanced with a kind heart and naïve personality. He made the perfect target for the school royal bullies.

The fact that he was a straight "A" student didn't help him much, either. On the contrary, it made his situation worse. Because of that and his cherubic looks, most of the teachers were enchanted by him by the end of the month, distinguishing him from his classmates, even though Yugi never encouraged such behavior.

He started to get bullied every day, weekends included. It was psychological most of the time, due to the fact that those royal morons were too delicate to even brush a marshmallow without breaking a nail. Yugi tried his best to ignore them; it didn't work, tried to talk to them with equal results, tried to defend himself…and thanked the Gods there was a teacher in the hallway at the time.

He was too ashamed to tell his parents, and worrying Anzu was out of the question, with no family resources to morally support him, he turned to the only person he could fully trust:

His Yami. The boy was the only pillar Yugi had, they wrote several letters per day that were later delivered by the school mail boy. In every letter Yami told him how much he missed him, how he longed to play with him and the gang, just like old times, and offered Yugi to use the power of his father's millennium puzzle to send those bastards to the shadow realm.

Yugi giggled at Yami's ideas and waited impatiently for those letters, for they brightened his days and made his life more bearable, and at the least opportunity the young prince would travel to his friend's place until it was time to return to prison.

When Jou and the rest of the gang found out Yugi's situation, the immediate reaction was "let's blow up the school", an idea proposed by Jou and fervently supported by Malik and Bakura- Yami was already getting the dynamite- but Ryou knew better, and sent a letter to Yugi with a single advice:

"_Not all the battles are won by fighting, my friend."_

And Yugi, being the naturally smart boy he was, understood what the white haired boy meant in a heartbeat and did the best he could do to get back at his bullies:

Annoy them further.

He tried harder at everything, and improved in almost all his classes. The more he was mocked, the more he accomplished. It was like nothing could stop him, using the insult as encouragement, he succeeded at everything and by the end of the year, the bullies got tired of him and found themselves another target.

Yugi was victorious in the battle, but did not come out of it unharmed.

His image in the mirror was not a pleasant one: his body seemed to want to retain him in the pre adolescence he was not able to live, leaving him still too short for his age, with a little baby fat distributed in different parts of his body. He looked more like a child of twelve rather than a fourteen year old boy.

Because of this and the bullying, his self esteem was dangerously low, and the joyful glow that had once been in his amethyst eyes seemed to had vanished forever, leaving only two sad mauve pools.

The very same year, a tragedy struck the prosperous land of Egypt: Aknunkanon's wife, Eurydice, died of disease, devastating the kingdom and the royal family.

Yugi took the first ride to Egypt and once he got there, he was greeted by the saddest vision:

A crying Atemu ran to Yugi and hold onto him for dear life -Aibou…- the word was barely above a whisper as Yami hugged him tightly, tears streaming down his face. Yugi sighed.

-I'm so sorry Yami, I…so sorry…

-I miss her Aibou, I miss her so much…- Yami continued sobbing against Yugi's shoulder as the other boy caressed his hair, pated his back, soothed his pain.

-Don't leave me, Aibou. Promise that you won't leave…- sobbed the crimson eyed boy.

-Yami I…

-Please…I need you to promise…- The words died in his throat as another sob, stronger this time, made his way out of his mouth. In the middle of the pain, his brain was able to register a soft breath teasing his ear.

-Shh…I won't leave you Yami, you know I'll stay by your side, we're like light and darkness, remember?

And for the first time since his mother died, Atemu found himself smiling. Or at least, a faint shadow of a smile. Somehow, now that his best friend was here, thing seemed a little brighter. No one could ever bring his mother back, but the soft warmth of Yugi's embrace made him think that it _could be _fine.

That day, Yugi held the crying boy for more than an hour.

The prince of Domino was sure he ad never seen his friend so vulnerable. After his arrival, Atemu behaved like a lost child with Yugi, he required the boy's presence at all times, claiming that only his best friend had the ability to soothe his nights, when dreams of his agonizing mother haunted his sleep.

Because of the nightmares and the cold winter, Yami developed a certain teddy bear complex; he would sneak into Yugi's bed every night and hold him like a plushy, a habit that would last him a lifetime, he just didn't knew at the time.

When his time in the palace came to an end, Yami was doing a lot better and Yugi found himself fighting some strange sensations that aroused in his belly every time the other prince touched him, or came too close to him, not really wanting to know what they _really _were. His biggest pride was the knowledge that he wasn't a bag of hormones, unlike most of the teenage population, and he certainly wasn't going to allow his nether regions to distract him from what was really important now (surviving being at the top of the list).

It was happy season in the middle of a dark era, and if the winter was quickly reaching its end, tribulations were just starting for both royal families.

* * *

**REVIEW PLEASE, I'D LIKE TO KNOW WHAT YOU THINK OF THIS! **


End file.
